Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Preview

Developer	Ubi Soft Montreal
Publisher	Ubi Soft
Genre	Action
Release Date	11/4/03

Jordan Mechner's 13-Year-Old Franchise is Reborn

The Prince of Persia series is fondly remembered as being some of the most adored action games of it's time. So naturally, given all of the remakes and resurrections happening as of late, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have another Prince of Persia bestowed upon us, right?

"Of course", you say to yourself. "As long as it plays as good as those old classics."

A Prince's Tale
The Sands of Time is actually the very first event in the PoP series. A story of the Prince himself, who after a hard-won war, claims an hourglass of the enemy as a trophy. Unfortunately, the magical artifact bursts, releasing the Sands of Time -- and a curse -- across the land.

The effects of the cursed sands doesn't affect the Prince himself, thanks to his magical sword. But everyone else? They become monsters; all diseased by the Sands of Time.

Because the Prince is the one who started all of this in the first place, he takes it upon himself to make things right.

Blinx of Persia
Of all the gameplay mechanics introduced in the Sands of Time, none of them compare to that of the ability to control time. See, remember earlier when we said that the sands turned everyone but the Prince into monsters? Well, the magical sands exist within those monsters, and by dispatching these foul creatures, some of this sand is released. If the Prince absorbs enough of this sand, he can control the flow of time, not unlike the abilities found in Blinx: The Time Sweeper. You'll be able to rewind to try and fix a botched maneuver, and fast forward to propel yourself to new areas.

There is one problem though. If the sand released from defeated foes is not absorbed quickly enough, the stuff will flow back into the creature's limp carcass, thereby fully reviving it. So, in essence, you'll not only have to be quick with the sword, but you'll also need to make sure you absorb the magic sand post-haste.

Combat Involved
In order to successfully be a Persian badass, the Prince has to have a variety of moves in his arsenal so that he can take out enemies in an assortment of ways, and to look good doing it. Ubi Soft is conscious of this, and is making sure that there are plenty of maneuvers for the Prince to pull off. The first action, however, is to draw your sword for combat (duh). Once you do, you'll enter a melee that is completely auto-targeted (and it works quite well) for non-stop action. The Prince can also pull off several acrobatic moves, like the infamous wall-run. Of course, all of these moves can be mixed and matched to create different and more effective combos.

The Prince will also be able to collect more powerful swords. Other than the one you start the game with, there are three others that will boast more power and effectiveness.

Devious Design
One of the coolest aspects of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the way the levels of the game are designed. Instead of just mazes of corridors and rooms, the levels are designed specifically to take advantage of the kind of moves you are able to execute. Obstacles and traps make sense, and are built around the character you control. Some of the more cunning traps will be accompanied by small cutscenes to clue you in as to what to do, or to simply reveal a bit more of the story. There are no fixed camera angles either; a nice touch indeed.

Make the Prince Proud
GWX can assure you that, from what we've seen and played, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is going to be stellar. It looks fabulous, it plays like a dream, and there are plenty of new elements incorporated into the action-packed basic concept that's over a decade old. There isn't any reason to believe that this game won't be a fine return to form for the sorely-missed Prince of Persia series.

Preview by Brendon Hivner